Chp 7: Long-Term Memory (Encoding, Retrieval, & Consolidation)

John Bransford & Marcia Johnson (1972)

preventing organization from happening reduces the ability to remember

deep processing

processing that involves attention to meaning and relating an item to something else (associated with elaborative rehearsal/better memory)

shallow processing

processing that involves repetition with little attention to meaning (associated with maintenance rehearsal)

__?__ consolidation involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a fairly long time scale, lasting weeks, months, or even years.

systems

Eric Eich & Janet Metcalfe (1989)

memory is better when a person's mood during retrieval matches his/her mood during encoding

How can a word be encoded? *some methods of encoding are more effective than others*

1. repeating it over and over 2. thinking of other words that rhyme with it 3. using it in a sentence

Donald Morris & coworkers (1977): retrieval is better if the same cognitive tasks are involved during both encoding and retrieval

- subjects who had focused on rhyming during encoding remembered more words than subjects who had focused on meaning; subjects who had focused on the word's sound did better when the test involved focusing on sound - *deeper processing at encoding does not always result in better retrieval* (as proposed by levels of processing theory)

Timo Mantyla (1986)

- when self-generated retrieval cues were presented, the subjects remembered 91% of the words - when the other-person-generated retrieval cues were presented, subjects remembered 55% of the words - IMPORTANT CONCLUSION: retrieval cues provide extremely effective information for retrieving memories, but those *retrieval cues are significantly more effective when they are created by the person whose memory is being tested*

effective ways of studying

1. elaborate - thinking about what you are reading and giving it meaning by relating it to other things that you know - techniques based on association 2. generate and test - generation effect and testing effect: active role in creating material 3. organize - goal: create a framework that helps relate some information to other information to make the material more meaningful - reduces load on your memory 4. take breaks - memory is better when studying is broken into a number of short sessions, with breaks in between (spacing effect) 5. avoid "illusions of learning"

"illusions of learning"

1. fluency: repetition causes the reading to become easier and easier 2. familiarity effect: when you encounter a reading a second or third time, there is a tendency to interpret this familiarity as indicating that you know the material 3. highlighting: often becomes automatic behavior that involves moving the hand, but little deep thinking about the material

2 types of recall procedures

1. free recall 2. cued recall

Why does going to sleep shortly after learning enhance memory?

1. going to sleep eliminates environmental stimuli that might interfere with consolidation 2. consolidation appears to be enhanced during sleep

Retrieval cues can be provided by a number of different sources:

1. location 2. hearing a particular song 3. smell

different ways of rehearsing information

1. maintenance rehearsal 2. elaborative rehearsal 3. levels of processing theory 4. paired-associated learning 5. self-reference effect 6. generation effect 7. organization 8. relating words to survival value 9. retrieval practice

2 types of consolidation (more accurate to think of them as occurring together)

1. synaptic consolidation 2. systems consolidation

self-reference effect

memory for a word is improved by relating the word to the self

Lourdes and Kim have been studying for two hours for their chemistry exam. Both girls are tired of studying. Lourdes decides to watch a two-hour movie on DVD, while Kim decides to go to bed. What would you predict about their performance on the chemistry exam?

Kim performs better because of reactivation.

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates how effective or ineffective maintenance rehearsal is in transferring information into long-term memory?

Serena's keys were stolen from her purse. She cannot give a detailed description of her keychain to the police, even though she used it every day for three years.

generation effect

memory for material is better when a person generates the material himself or herself, rather than passively receiving it

systems consolidation

a consolidation process that involves the gradual reorganization of circuits within brain regions and takes place on a long-time scale, lasting weeks, months, or even years *more recent research: investigated role of the hippocampus and cortical areas in the formation of memories*

paired-associated learning

a learning task in which participants are first presented with pairs of words, then one word of each pair is presented, and the task is to recall the other word

cued recall

a procedure for testing memory in which a participant is presented with cues, such as words or phrases, to aid recall of previously experienced stimuli

free recall

a procedure for testing memory in which the participants is asked to remember stimuli that were previously presented

synaptic consolidation

a process of consolidation that involves structural changes at synapses that happen rapidly, over a period of minutes or hours *more early research*

reconsolidation

a process proposed by Nader and others that occurs when a memory is retrieved and so it becomes reactivated; once this occurs, the memory must be consolidated again, as it was during the initial learning (repeat consolidation = reconsolidation)

reactivation

a process that occurs during memory consolidation, in which the hippocampus replays the neural activity associated with a memory during reactivation, activity occurs in the network connecting the hippocampus and the cortex; the activity results in the formation of connections between the cortical areas

D.R. Godden & Alan Baddeley (1975)

best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurs in the same location

similarity between retrieval practice and generation effect

both involve actively creating and recreating material

memory is not static/fixed, but a "work in progress"

constantly being constructed and remodeled in response to new learning and changing conditions

retrieval cue

cues that help a person remember information that is stored in memory

Levels of processing theory is an example of *circular reasoning*

defining a procedure as deeper because it results in better memory and then using that procedure to show that deeper processing results in better memory (*doesn't really prove anything*)

In the levels of processing theory, memory depends on...

depth of processing

According to the levels of processing theory, memory durability depends on the depth at which information is __?__.

encoded

People often report an annoying memory failure when they walk from one end of the house to the other for something and then forget what they went to retrieve when they reach their destination. As soon as they return to the first room, they are reminded of what they wanted in the first place. This common experience best illustrates the principle of __?__.

encoding specificity

testing effect

enhanced performance on a memory test caused by being tested on the material to be remembered

Many failures of memory are actually...

failures of retrieval

In Slameka and Graf's (1978) study, some participants read word pairs, while other participants had to fill in the blank letters of the second word in a pair with a word related to the first word. The latter group performed better on a later memory task, illustrating the __?__.

generation effect

According to your text, imagery enhances memory because __?__.

imagery can be used to create connections between items to be remembered

organization

information that is organized (e.g., hierarchical, chunked, etc.) results in better memory *subjects spontaneously organize information as they recall it*

What is one problem with levels of processing theory?

it is difficult to define exactly what depth of processing is

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory for something that happened prior to an injury or traumatic event such as a concussion *can extend back minutes, hours, or even years, depending on the nature of the injury*

According to the levels of processing theory, which of the following tasks will produce the best long-term memory for a set of words?

making a connection between each word and something you've previously learned

Better memory is typically associated with encoding that is based on...

meaning and making connections

standard model of consolidation

proposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation, but that once consolidation is complete, retrieval no longer depends on the hippocampus - proposes that incoming information activates a number of areas in the cortex (activation is distributed across the cortex because memories typically involve many sensory and cognitive areas)

What is the major mechanism of consolidation?

reactivation

maintenance rehearsal

rehearsal that involves repetition without any consideration of meaning or making connections to other information (typically results in poor memory)

elaborative rehearsal

rehearsal that involves thinking about the meaning of an item to be remembered or making connections between that item and prior knowledge (typically results in better memory than maintenance rehearsal)

Donald Hebb (1948): learning and memory are represented in the brain by physiological changes that take place at the synapse

repeated activity can strengthen the synapse by causing structural changes, greater neurotransmitter release, and increased firing (long-term potential/LTP)

Elaborative rehearsal of a word will LEAST likely be accomplished by __?__.

repeating it over and over

Asaf Gilboa & coworkers (2004)

results showed that the hippocampus was activated during retrieval of both recent and remote episodic memories

A __?__ cue helps us remember information that has been stored in memory.

retrieval

Basic principle of matching conditions of encoding and retrieval

retrieval can be increased by matching the conditions at retrieval to the conditions that existed at encoding

Endel Tulving & Zena Pearlstone (1966)

retrieval cues aid memory: - free recall group: 40% of words - cued recall group: 75% of words

When a memory becomes fragile, but before it is reconsolidated, it can be changed or eliminated

retrieving a memory puts us in touch with something from the past and opens the door for either modifying or forgetting the memory

Reactivation process associated with consolidation begins as soon as memory is formed, but is particularly strong during __?__.

sleep

Steffan Gais & coworkers (2006): tested the idea that sleep enhances consolidation

students in the sleep group forgot much less material than students in the awake group

Harry Grant & coworkers (1998)

subjects perform better when tested when the testing condition matched the study condition

Gordon Bower & coworkers (1969)

subjects tended to organize their responses in the same way the organizational trees were organized: - on average, recalled 73 words from all four organizational trees - subjects exposed to disorganized information, but all information on all four trees, were able to remember an average of 21 words

Ines Wilhelm & coworkers (2011): some memories are more likely to be consolidated than others

subjects who expected to be tested on the same simulation performed significantly better than the unexpected group (memory for the task was stronger if subjects expected they would be tested)

Gordon Bower & David Winzenz (1970): tested whether visual imagery ("images in the head" that connect words visually) can create connections that enhance memory

subjects who had created images remembered more than twice as many words as the subjects who had just repeated the word pairs

Norman Slameka & Peter Graf (1978)

subjects who had generated the second word in each pair were able to reproduce 28% more word pairs

retrieval practice: Henry Roediger & Jeffrey Karpicke (2006)

testing effect

coding

the *form* in which stimuli are represented in the mind

spacing effect

the advantage in performance caused by short study session separated by breaks from studying

Indre Viskontas & coworkers (2009): demonstrated that the response of the hippocampus can change over time

the hippocampus response does change over time, but only for stimuli that have lost their episodic character

levels of processing theory

the idea that memory depends on how information is encoded, with better memory being achieved when processing is deep than when processing is shallow

multiple trace model of consolidation

the idea that the hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of remote memories, especially episodic memories

long-term potential (LTP)

the increased firing that occurs in a neuron due to prior activity at the synapse; enhanced firing of neurons after repeated stimulation

state-dependent learning

the principle that memory is best when a person is in the same (*internal*) state for encoding and retrieval

encoding specificity

the principle that we learn information together with its context; presence of the context can lead to enhanced memory for the information

encoding

the process of acquiring information and transferring it into memory

retrieval

the process of remembering information that has been stored in long-term memory

consolidation

the process that transforms new memories into a state in which they are more resistant to disruption

What is one main factor that determines whether you can retrieve information from long-term memory?

the way that information was encoded when you learned it

T.B. Rogers & coworkers (1977): subjects were more likely to remember words that they had rated as describing themselves; why?

the words become linked to something the subjects know well (themselves)

relating words to survival value: James Nairne (2010)

we can understand how memory works by considering its function: memory was shaped to increase the ability to survive - linking words to survival created memory that was better than memory achieved by the elaborative tasks (forming visual images, linking words to oneself, and generating information) - relating words to something meaningful and potentially important (like survival) enhances memory

graded amnesia

when amnesia is most severe for events that occurred just prior to an injury and becomes less severe for earlier, more remote events - corresponds to the changes in connections between hippocampus and cortical areas (connections between cortical areas are formed and strengthened as time passes; connection between hippocampus and cortex weakens and eventually disappears)

transfer-appropriate processing

when the type of task that occurs during encoding matches the type of task that occurs during retrieval; can result in enhanced memory